Scharf Investments LLC Increases Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Scharf Investments LLC increased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,296 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 527 shares during the quarter. Scharf Investments LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $4,331,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its stake in shares of Apple by 21.1% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 3,380,064 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $787,631,000 after buying an additional 588,427 shares during the period. Sendero Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Apple by 2.0% during the third quarter. Sendero Wealth Management LLC now owns 63,999 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,912,000 after buying an additional 1,243 shares during the period. Selective Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 29.0% in the 3rd quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. now owns 28,389 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,409,000 after buying an additional 6,385 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 33,530 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,812,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LifePro Asset Management grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 9.9% during the third quarter. LifePro Asset Management now owns 8,313 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,937,000 after buying an additional 752 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. DA Davidson set a $290.00 price objective on Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $245.52.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $217.90 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $230.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $233.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.08 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.27 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.59, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.87%.

Apple Company Profile

Apple Inc designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories worldwide. The company offers iPhone, a line of smartphones; Mac, a line of personal computers; iPad, a line of multi-purpose tablets; and wearables, home, and accessories comprising AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, and HomePod.